Get Back in Crafting Control

It is always so much fun to dive into a crafting hobby.  It helps clear your mind, relaxes you, and is a release from the world if only for a little bit.  Usually when someone begins crafting they can think of nothing else but spending time on their craft and buying the best supplies that are available to start.

But, if you are like me, sooner or later you realize that it becomes more annoying to create a space for you to do your craft because the stuff to do it is eating the space around you up!

Then the guilt sets in and the procrastination of finding homes for all the stuff begins.  All you really want to do is find a place for all this stuff and get busy with what you enjoy best...crafting!

If you have finally gotten to the point that you are ready to do something about all your crafting stuff so you can get back to having fun, keep reading below. 

Follow the below suggestions and apply them to all crafts.  This includes small knick knacks all the way to unusually shaped large crafts.

• 1) Define the space you want to work in, if you have temporarily been working in the living room, but always wanted to share your hobby room with your husband's home office-go for it!

• 2) De-clutter, go through your supplies and throw out or give away to a fellow crafter any supplies you do not need or are outdated.

• 3) Next, group your supplies by likeness, and you can then subdivide out by color, type of material, size, etc. For example, beading, beads can be broken out into color and then subdivided into size.

• 4) Look at the space you have defined to craft in and think about how you are going to use it. This will help you determine what types of storage containers you will need. For example, if you like working in the living room, then you will need mobile storage containers that are either on wheels or have handles on them, so that when you are through with them you can easily put them up and out of sight in a closet or storage area. Or if you are moving into your husband's office, choose a mixture of both stationary and moving storage containers to fit your needs.

• 5) Finally, use your already creative mind to view containers and hardware in nontraditional ways. This step is especially important for crafts that require large unusual shaped pieces such as quilting. For example, you can fold quilting cloth and put into a large Tupperware container according to color, a piece of cardboard sticks up similar to a file and separates out each fabric from the next. You can even cut out and staple a sample of the cloth to each divider.

After you have gained back your crafting control and created your utopia of a crafting space watch out, because you will probably spend even more time in your perfect corner of the crafting universe!

Written by, Joy Bryant of Order Created, 9/25/07, visit her website www.ordercreated.com for more useful tips.